MLB appears to want the Yankees and Red Sox to open up the 2008 season in Asia, preferably with an exhibition game in China and then two games that count (one home game for each team) in Japan presumably at the Tokyo Dome, according to the New York Times.

The New York Post says that if the Yankees don't want to play, the Dodgers would step in although that would require some weird scheduling to make any of those games count in the regular season.

The Times also suggested that the Dodgers and Padres could be another pair. I think the Japanese would enjoy a heated rivalry like the Dodgers-Padres just as much as the Yankees-Red Sox as the California rivalry is smaller and more efficient.